Acid and fat fix a fishy tuna steak.

You can’t unfish it, but you can mask it.

Once a tuna steak is cooked and too fishy, the damage is done. But you can save the dish by adding acid and fat. A squeeze of lemon or lime, a drizzle of good olive oil, and maybe some capers or fresh herbs will cut through that strong flavor. The acid neutralizes the compounds that make it taste “fishy,” and the fat rounds it out.

If it’s really bad, shred the tuna and turn it into a salad with mayo, lemon, and chopped celery. Or mix it into pasta with olive oil, garlic, and parsley. The strong flavor gets diluted and tamed.

Next time, buy “sushi-grade” or “yellowfin” if you can — it’s less intense. Or soak the raw steak in milk for 20 minutes before cooking. That pulls out some of the fishiness. But for now, acid and fat are your friends.